Northeast OKC Renaissance to continue in 2019

Story by Darla Shelden on January 9, 2019 . Click on author name to view all articles by this author. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Northeast OKC Renaissance was designed to engage the local community and attract people from throughout the metro to visit Northeast Oklahoma City. Facebook photo.

By Darla SheldenCity Sentinel Reporter

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Hosted by Northeast OKC Renaissance Inc (NEOKCR). ONE OKC is an annual street festival that was formed to represent the “culturally rich, and economically vibrant vision of the future of Northeast Oklahoma City. Its goal is to engage the local community and attract people from throughout the metropolitan area to visit Northeast Oklahoma City.

The festival was created with the support of Leadership Oklahoma City’s LOYAL (Linking Oklahoma City Young Adult Leaders) Class XI.

In April 2016, the first ONE OKC festival took place at Douglass Mid-High School’s football stadium. In 2018, the event was moved to the historic Northeast 23rd Street district becoming ONE OKC’s biggest success to date. The event showcased NEOKC’s economic growth and built a greater unity within the community and the OKC metro area.

“As we look back on 2018, Northeast OKC Renaissance Inc. made great strides toward our mission to be a catalyst for ethical, place-based community development in Northeast Oklahoma City (NEOKC),” said Dr. Quintin S. Hughes Sr., board president for Northeast OKC Renaissance Inc. (NEOKCR).

“We saw our annual ONE OKC event flourish like never before, new place-based programming initiatives launched, the election of Councilwoman Nikki Nice, and many more community stakeholders engaged in the northeast renaissance movement.

“Not to mention, we gained an incredible new City Councilwoman with whom we are in direct contact with to be certain that our shared interests and goals are met, collaboratively.

The City of Oklahoma City established the Northeast Renaissance Steering Committee (NERSC) as an ad-hoc group of community stakeholders to represent the NE community’s voice while vetting Northeast Renaissance development efforts.

“In 2019 we will continue to build upon past success, while further highlighting Northeast Renaissance developments and connecting the community to them,” Quitan said. The NERSC’s mission was to advocate for ethical redevelopment considerate of housing, education, safety, wellness, economic development, and preservation of African American arts and culture.

Quintin continued, “We fully expect to carry the momentum forward to 2019, as we focus on three priorities.”

1. Unifying NE 23rd street business and land owners to establishing an NE 23rd commercial district providing an authentic, place-based destination that preserves the rich history of the area while rekindling its cultural and economic activity.2. Partnering to host the first annual NEOKC Developer Conference and establish the NEOKC Developer Network to educate, connect, and propel a community of small-scale developers in NEOKC.3. Growing ONE OKC, the annual street festival and fundraiser

“If you are in support of our mission and vision, please support our programming with your attendance, engagement, and your dollars,” Quintin said. “We look forward to partnering with you in 2019.”

The ONE OKC 2019 street festival will be held on May 18. To learn more, visit neokcr.org.

Dr. Quintin S. Hughes Sr., board president for Northeast OKC Renaissance Inc., says the organization will continue to build upon past success, while further highlighting Northeast Renaissance developments and connecting the community to them. Facebook photo